 
Back
Shelf Beauties
by Willie Waffle
Click Here to Buy
Movie Posters!
|
Flyboys
The press
materials for Flyboys
point out that this is the first World War I aviation movie
in over 40 years. Then,
the movie proves
why.
Set during World
War I before the United States enters the war (that’s 1917
for those who are
scratching their heads), James Franco stars as Blaine Rawlings
– a Texas rancher who has
lost his family and is about to lose the ranch (and somehow stole his name from a soap opera).
Without any other options, he heads to France
to become a fighter pilot with the Lafayette Escadrille and to help
defeat Germany. Once there, Blaine
meets up with several
other Americans with similar motivations and desires for a fresh start,
and we
have to wonder if this motley crew can get it together and be an
effective
fighting machine with the newest of modern technology, a technology
that is
rickety and dangerous all on its own, let alone when others are
shooting at
you.
Who
will
live? Who will die? Who will be a hero?
Flyboys is one
of those movies trying much too hard to make us cry, while writers Phil
Sears,
Blake Evans and David Ward have trouble deciding how to end the film. Director Tony Bill and
editors Chris Blunden
and Ron Rosen don’t miss an opportunity to put in some
soaring, heartfelt,
almost patriotic music behind just about every scene (it’s
hard to call it
patriotic when they are fighting for another country.
Maybe it’s patriotic to French audiences?). I half expected Bill to
make someone’s late
night trip to the commode a harrowing battle for life or death as he
snuck
through the darkness and just avoided stubbing his toe, all for the
freedom of
France. Some well
placed emotion is a
good thing, but Bill wears us out as the audience is expected to view
each
moment as monumental, when only some can ever be.
Then, Flyboys
just won’t freaking end.
While some of
this feeling comes from the inevitable and predictable plot twists you
can see
coming from the moment the characters show up on screen (you think the
guy who
carries a picture of his gal from back home is doomed as much as the Star Trek
dude wearing a red uniform?), most of the problem is a desire to wrap
up every
single story for each character, even though we don’t really
know much about
them, or care to. They
are uncompelling
stereotypes played by actors who are acceptable, but not Oscar caliber,
in
stories that don’t require much time for us to get it. Then, each minor
complication is too easily
and too quickly resolved, which leaves us with a plot that seems to be
going
nowhere even as the movie marches (or, in this case, flies forth).
There are no
arcs, no climax, no plots that suck you in.
Eventually, the whole movie feels as if it lasts as
long as the war
itself.
While the movie
does feel old fashioned and slow, Bill’s crowning
achievements are the amazing
aerial dogfight scenes that take you on board the planes themselves
(which will
help sell more video game versions of this story than movie tickets). These moments are
harrowing, exciting and
shockingly real as the audience wings through the air and looks down
the barrel
of a German fighter plane’s gun or hovers above a zeppelin.
Franco is fine
as the leading man, and everyone who buys a ticket will find something
they
like about the movie. I
just don’t think
the upsides make up for the downsides.
1 Waffles
(Out Of 4)
Copyright
2006 - WaffleMovies.com
| You
can support this site by shopping at AllPosters.com |
 |
|
